The top names: by decade

Last updated: 17 March 2020

The tables which are available at the foot of this page list the ‘Top 100’ names for certain periods, based on the total number of babies which were given each first forename in each period.

On that basis, the top boys’ names were as follows:

• 1980 to 1989 – first, David (17,339 babies in those ten years); second, Christopher (12,686); third, Andrew (11,968); fourth, John (11,690); and fifth James (10,935);
• 1990 to 1999 – first, Ryan (8,513 babies in those ten years); second, Andrew (8,474); third, David (7,757); fourth, Scott (7,605); and fifth James (7,396);
• 2000 to 2009 – first, Jack (7,467 babies in those ten years); second, Lewis (7,297); third, Ryan (5,146); fourth, Cameron (5,128); and fifth James (4,974).
• 2010 to 2019 – first, Jack (5,424 babies in those ten years); second, James (4,140); third, Lewis (3,921); fourth, Oliver (3,697); and fifth Logan (3,405).

It may be noted that James is the only name which has been in the boys' Top Five in each of those four decades. No other name was in the Top Five in three of the four decades. Andrew, David, Jack, Lewis and Ryan were each in the Top Five in two of the four decades. No other name was in the Top Five in more than one decade.

On the same basis, the top girls’ names were as follows:

• 1980 to 1989 – first, Laura (11,197 babies in those ten years); second, Claire (8,743); third, Nicola (7,540); fourth, Jennifer (7,069); and fifth Emma (6,602);
• 1990 to 1999 – first, Emma (7,653 babies in those ten years); second, Lauren (6,780); third, Rebecca (6,669); fourth, Amy (5,943); and fifth Sarah (5,496);
• 2000 to 2009 – first, Sophie (5,768 babies in those ten years); second, Emma (5,260); third, Chloe (5,053); fourth, Amy (4,640); and fifth Erin (4,261).
• 2010 to 2019 – first, Sophie (5,002 babies in those ten years); second, Emily (4,765); third, Olivia (4,732); fourth, Isla (4,006); and fifth Ava (3,756).

It may be noted that no name has been in the girls' Top Five in each of those four decades. Emma is the only name which has been in the Top Five in three of the four decades. Amy and Sophie were each in the Top Five in two of the four decades. No other name was in the Top Five in more than one decade.

‘Top 100s’ for particular periods, combining the numbers for all the years

The files below have been made available as Excel spreadsheets and can be viewed in Comma Separated Value (CSV) or Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF).

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